A new Alton tradition

Published
10:55 pm CDT, Saturday, April 30, 2016

Image
1of/3

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 3

A new Alton tradition

1 / 3

Back to Gallery

ALTON — Alton’s first vintage baseball team, the Alton Giant — singular in homage to Robert Wadlow, of course — played its inaugural games at Rock Spring Park against the St. Louis Brown Stockings and the St. Louis Unions Saturday.

The team is looking to start a new baseball tradition in Alton. While most of the morning was soggy, the rain eventually abated, allowing the teams to enjoy a three-game exhibition.

Vintage baseball has been experiencing a resurgence, with roughly 200 clubs in the U.S. and over a dozen clubs in the St. Louis metropolitan area who annually come together to recreate the game of baseball at the time of its inception.

Essentially, it is a pickup game of baseball played as it was during the Civil War with wooden bats and period-era uniforms. Players don’t rely on gloves or helmets and the ball, though similar in size, is constructed out of slightly different material than those used today, and is neary just as hard.

Greg Gelzinnis, one of the creators of the Alton Giant, decided to pursue the idea after an exhibition match last fall against the St. Louis Brown Stockings.

“There was so much interest after that first experience, we decided to put a team together for our community,” he said

One of the primary missions of the Alton team is to bring more attention to Alton’s neglected parks. Gelzinnis is also a chair on the Rock Spring 2020 Committee, whose focus is to create momentum in revitalizing the park’s facilities.

“It was a spectacular park in its day. All of the foundations are still here and we’re just trying to dust them off and repurpose them,” he said. “Some of the focus moved away from our inner city parks and they became neglected because they did not have all of the amenities that the newer parks had.”

But there are more opportunities for people to reintroduce themselves to Rock Spring Park, as it now features a challenging disc golf course, a brand new environmental project, and a golf course.

Alton Mayor Brant Walker was also on hand to commemorate the inaugural game and throw out the first pitch.

“This is not only about vintage baseball but it’s the rebirth of our park systems – we’re going to start putting our kids back in neighborhood parks,” he said. “Three years ago this was considered a dead park but it’s absolutely critical that we take care of our green spaces. We have to appreciate and respect what we have, we’re caretakers for our future generations and we shouldn’t let these things fall apart.”

Brown Stockings manager Tony Wicker, who goes by the nickname Lighting, has been playing for six years and for him, there’s no better way to spend an afternoon.

“It’s a chance to recreate how the game was played back in 1860,” he said. “It’s a gentleman’s game – there’s no spitting, no swearing, no sliding. You can get away from the competitiveness in regular baseball and just go and have fun, it doesn’t matter who’s playing.”

Gelzinnis is in complete agreement.

“It’s americana and in today’s high tech world, it’s neat to go back to a pace that we all know and love,” he said. “And who couldn’t enjoy a game of pickup baseball in a park anywhere in America and we’re excited that it’s here in Alton.”

For more information about how to join the Alton Giants, contact Greg at 618-550-9291 or visit vbba.org.